The Awakening
by Apimpnamedcheytown
Summary: There was a burning sensation running down her throat, and she swallowed it willingly. She was used to pain. Looking up at the woman before her, Sakura couldn't help but glare as she began to speak. "You are a key, Sakura. But the box that you open is one filled with death and dismay. It will ultimately be the end of this world as we know it. Which is why I'm asking for your death"
1. The Club

_'Trust is a dangerous gamble. Placed in the right person, it can put you on top of the world. However, if it's broken, it can bring you to your knees.'_

* * *

"Hey, forehead, let's go." Sakura cringed at the voice that echoed throughout her tiny 2 bedroom apartment. "We're going to be standing here for years waiting for you to try and look some what attractive."

"Oh shove off, Pig!" Sakura shouted back at her friend absentmindedly, but for the moment she was too busy trying to find where she had put her wallet to throw back a decent insult.

'_Let's burn her useless 'kiss me, I'm famous' shirt' that'll teach her, and it's god damn hideous'_ Sakura let a small smirk form on her lips at her inner personality's thoughts. She had come to refer to these thoughts as, 'inner Sakura' and had grown up with having these thoughts that were not exactly her own her whole life. Now it was so natural to her that she wasn't sure what she would do with out the second commentary always going on in her head.

Ino always referred to it has some kind of multiple personality disorder, because on occasion inner Sakura's thoughts and actions had a tendency to show themselves to the outside world and Sakura never really remembered what happened those times when her inner took over.

"I swear to god I need to put a beeper on that thing." She muttered. This had been the second time that day she had misplaced her wallet.

"a-HAH!" walking over to some scattered clothes on the floor, Sakura lifted a shirt off of the floor that had been partly covering her purple wallet. Turning and heading for her bedroom door, she stopped before the mirror that hung to the left of her door, giving herself a once over.

Her pink hair fell around her reaching her mid back, straightened to Sakura's liking instead of the normal waves that took over her head. She wore a simple tight black sleeveless shirt with a sleeveless jean vest that was shorter than the shirt in length, ending a couple of inches beneath her breasts. Light blue jeans clung to her legs, with intentional cuts running up the front, and at the tops of her knees began her half an inch heeled black boots.

Sakura wasn't sure if this could be completely considered club attire, but it felt comfortable enough to her and that's all that she really cared about.

Sighing for the long evening she had ahead of her, Sakura opened her door and headed down the hall to her and Ino's entrance. There Ino stood with their close friend, Hinata.

"Jesus Christ, finally! I swear you take longer than me- what the hell is that?" Sakura abruptly stopped, wide eyed, looking down at herself at the panic she heard in her friend's voice.

"What? Is there a stain?" She heard a scoff from Ino and looked back up at her friend.

"No a stain might actually look inviting. You're dressed like you're ready to fight someone. Not exactly and inviting outfit." Sakura and her inner both stared at Ino, dumbfounded. "I mean the only skin you're showing is your arms!"

"That's the point you simple fool. I don't do clubs, Ino. And you know this." Sakura had been to a club on two other occasions in her 23 years of life and both of them were uncomfortable counts of being groped and verbally harassed. Although she sometimes enjoyed the music, she never ended up completely relaxed at a club unless she had many drinks in her. Really, she acted more like a body guard for her friends when she went. Shaking her head, Sakura started past the two girls in the doorway while Ino reached for Hinata's overly large jacked and pulled it open.

"Look! Even Hinata knows how to show off her goodies!" The said girl, blushing madly, glared at Ino and closed her jacket once more.

"That's because Hinata has goodies to show." Sakura shouted over her shoulder, as she headed down their stairway.

"I think you look wonderful Sakura!" Smiling down at her friend that had caught up to her, Sakura threw her right arm around Hinata's shoulders, glad for the girl's shorter height that made the action comfortable.

"Well, that black dress your wearing looks beautiful on you Hinata, I'm going to be fighting back Naruto all night long!" Sakura chuckled as the girl started turning red. "It always amazes me how you can show off your body without looking like a complete slut." At this last part, Sakura turned her head back a little to land a glare on the trailing blonde behind them.

"Why you-" Ino was interrupted as a figure started towards them.

"Finally. It's almost ten." Sakura shrugged at Shikamaru as she walked past him.

"Talk to your girlfriend, she's the one that couldn't find her wallet and rudely made us wait up there. Honestly, Ino, you should be more organized." Sakura made a disapproving sound at Ino before opening up Shikamaru's back door and making her way into the back seat, with Hinata getting in on the other side giggling.

"Typical." Frowning, Shikamaru headed for the drivers seat, while Ino headed for the passenger door yelling about Sakura and lies.

**XxXxXx**

"They should already be here. I mean, we're late ourselves." Sakura nodded in agreement with Ino, mirroring the girl and looking around the crowd that surrounded the club they were in front of.

"Well, I'm sure Naruto got hungry, which doesn't help with Sasuke's need to look perfect. Thus, resulting in their being late" Sakura stated, giving up on looking around the crowd and pulling out her phone.

"Maybe we should just go in. The line's going to get longer and I just want to sit down already." Sakura smiled at her phone as she listened to Shikamaru.

'_I swear, this man's the laziest genius I have ever met.'_ Mentally nodding at her inner's voice, Sakura sent a text to Naruto and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"Well," Sakura started, digging in her back pocket where she had shoved some money and her I.D., having left her wallet in Shikamaru's car. "Shall we go in? I mean they can always text us when they get here and meet up with us?" Ino glanced around nervously, not really liking the idea but was torn by the music that was blasting from inside the club.

The girl loved to dance.

"Is that okay with you, Hinata?" Ino looked at the smaller girl.

"Yes, I just hope they will be able to find us."

"I'm sure it will be fine." Ino smiled, then looked at the girl's jacket. "Aren't you hot? It's mid summer and you're going to have to carry that inside, Hinata. Do you want us to put it back in the car?" Shaking her head, Hinata smiled.

"I'm used to it." Nodding, Ino started for the line.

They almost didn't get past the bouncer with Sakura wearing what she was wearing and Shikamaru's attitude. However, Ino's blossoming personality and assets seemed to be enough to get them through.

"I swear you guys would be able to have no fun with out me!" Ino shouted back at her friends as she pushed through people crowding the hallway leading to the main dance floor. Her stature was changing as she became more excited getting closer to the main area.

Sakura smiled as she looked at the back of her friend, who was holding her hand and dragging her forward. Hinata was behind them with Shikamaru trailing behind her.

Although Sakura didn't prefer clubs, she didn't mind seeing her friends enjoy themselves and having fun.

When they entered through an archway leading to the main part of the club that held the dance floor, it was chaos. It was the only word that could truly describe the crowd that lay in front of her. On the floor in front of the stage where the DJ played, bodies were stuck together, moving in unison. And although that kind of closeness could make someone feel claustrophobic, it could also make someone feel on top and in sync with the world.

Sakura nearly ran into Ino's back when the girl stopped abruptly, turning to yell into her ear.

"We probably won't find a table until Sasuke gets here and pulls some strings for us. So for now we'll just go to the bar!" Sakura nodded to her since yelling yes to her would be unnecessary. Turning to face Hinata while Ino started pulling her, she had to grab her friends arm to pull her attention away from the dance floor, were her own attention had been moments before.

'Bar.' Was what Sakura mouthed to answer Hinata's confusing stare, in which the girl nodded in understanding and turned to, what Sakura assumed, relay the message to Shikamaru.

Who shrugged. Shaking her head and chcuking, Sakura allowed herself to be dragged by Ino, looking over the people surrounding them as they past.

She got approving looks from both men and women, which Sakura didn't mind. It was when they touched her, or her friends for that manner, inappropriately and unnecessarily that really had the tendency to set her off.

'_Let's dance with them ALLLLL!'_ Sakura shook her head as her inner's thoughts were screamed in her mind.

'_No.'_ She answered, trying to silence her now hyper personality.

'_Come ooonnn! I know you feel this music, it's natural to want to move to it. So just move to it! Don't care about anything else!'_ As much as her inner might be right, Sakura was simply too self-conscious and self-aware to allow herself to do those things so freely, especially in front of a crowd this big. Maybe if her friends wanted to dance with her, and maybe with a couple of drinks in her system, she would be able to. But by that time Ino will have forced Shikamaru or some other poor soul onto the dance floor and Naruto will have stolen Hinata away.

As they reached the far end of the long bar, the music was a little less loud there and Ino immediately grabbed one of the bar tenders attention and got some drinks going. Sakura pulled out her phone to see if Naruto had answered her from earlier, but he had not.

"I don't know if they're coming, Ino." Sakura, who was leaning against the bar facing the rest of the club, voiced her thoughts to Ino, who shook her head in disagreement.

"There is no way Naruto would pass this opportunity and miss Hinata looking like this. " Ino's blonde hair, in a high ponytail, fell to the left of her face as she leaned towards Sakura talking. She took this moment to really take in her friend's outfit.

Where Sakura wore tight pants and a shirt, Ino wore a baby blue short sleeve dress. The only place it really fit snuggly was around her breasts and it stopped a couple of inches before her knees. Her white heals were only about three inches high with a gold lock on the front of them; they laced to about half way up her calf and fit nicely on her legs.

Sakura leaned towards her friend, smiling, "You know I was joking before, you look really good tonight." Her friend, who had been lightly bouncing on her feet and looking at the crowd on the dance floor, looked at Sakura from the corner of her eyes, smiling.

"Yeah, I know." Sakura nodded her head at her friend and turned to face the bar as their drinks were prepared for them. Ino shot down two short glasses of whatever vodka she felt like enjoying for the night and started towards Shikamaru. Sakura grabbed her Amaretto Sour and turned back to face the dance floor. She didn't have a clear view of it though because the dance floor was surrounded on three sides by the higher-level floor they were on with a railing surrounding it where people could just watch the D.J. play on the stage at the back wall of the club and people dance on the dance floor. She turned when Ino started to wine and head to the dance floor by herself, which meant Shikamaru refused to dance with her.

'_Typical, that's my cue.'_ Sakura pushed herself off the bar and leaned towards Hinata and Shikamaru, "I'm going to go keep an eye on her." In which her friends nodded and Sakura headed towards an empty space that over looked the dance floor, a couple of feet from the stairway entrances that lead to the main floor. Which was good in case she needed to make a quick rescue of her blonde friend.

She leaned forward against the railing and sighted her friend immediately. Sakura took a sip of her drink, thinking of Ino and her boyfriend. Wondering how Shikamaru was okay with Ino dancing with whomever she wanted to, instead of him.

'_It's his fault, Sakura. He brings her here and then refuses to entertain her.'_ Inner Sakura stated.

'_Yeah but… that must suck.'_ Sakura thought, watching Ino as she chose to dance with a female partner as a new song started up.

'_He might be confident enough in their relationship that it doesn't matter to him. He's just letting her have fun.'_ Sakura nodded her head, bringing her eyes away from Ino to overlook the rest of the people below her.

'_This isn't bad. This aura is nice. It's interesting to watch everybody, and this music puts me in a trance. This is a different feel than the other clubs we've been to.'_ Sakura thought to herself, looking over the crowd.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, her body stiffened. An over whelming feeling started to fill her, almost like she was being suffocated. But just as swiftly as it came, it disappeared.

'_That was really weird.'_ Inner Sakura stated.

''_Yeah, it felt like we were being watch. But that's typical, we're in a club….. but something does feel off.'_ Scoping out the dance floor to make sure Ino was fine, Sakura spotted her friend now closer to the stage, enjoying the music. Satisfied, she started scoping out the rest of the dance floor, searching to see if anyone was paying particular attention to her, which could have caused her previous reaction. She got occasional glances but nothing that made her feel like she had moments ago.

'_Maybe they aren't on the dance floor,'_ Sakura thought to herself, _'Maybe-'_ Her thoughts were halted as her eyes met with jade. Standing directly across from her on the other side of the dance floor was a man with spikey red hair, starring right at her. Or maybe he wasn't? But it sure felt like his eyes were directly on her.

Then he Smirked.

'_Yup, definitely looking at us. I don't mind, he looks super fine!_' Sakura ignored herself and swallowed. She didn't like being singled out, and he was doing it in a completely unsubtle way. He was blatantly starring at her without any care. What was also weird was that normally someone would have looked away if you caught them starring.

The stare coming from the man seemed to shift to something more… predatory as his head tilted forward. It felt like he was demanding her attention.

"Naruto's here." Sakura jumped and whipped around to face Hinata, panic in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Sakura!" Hinata shouted. Sakura shook her head, trying to reassure her friend.

"No, you're fine Hinata, I was…" She turned to look behind her at the man who was starring at her before. But of course, he was not longer there. "I was just distracted." She yelled back at her friend, doing her best to offer a smile.

Nodding, Hinata motioned for Sakura to come with her to the bar, which she did gladly. However, not before taking one more glance back to make sure the stranger was still no longer there; he wasn't.

"Sakura!" Sakura laughed as she prepared for her friend's hug. It had been a while since she had last seen Naruto. Going from seeing someone everyday of your life since being little to seeing them every once in a while wasn't something Sakura was sure she'd ever get used to. Her and Naruto had grown up in a foster home together, basically becoming like a real brother and sister. But now they had grown up with their own lives leading them in separate directions, naturally leading to less time spent together.

"You're late, idiot!" Naruto looked slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah I know, but stupid over there had to go over to this store and then I got hungry-" Sakura held her hand up.

"I don't care to hear your long journey of how you came to be late. Where is Sasuke anyways?" Sakura asked, looking behind Naruto for any traces of their mutual friend. Naruto pointed to Sakura's left to the area where they had entered. There was Sasuke, speaking to a bouncer, girls waiting patiently behind him for the moment they could grab his attention. Sakura shook her head, some things never changed. She looked back at the bar and noticed Shikamaru was now gone, probably to find a better place to watch Ino. Hinata was standing there by herself, looking a bit out of place.

"Hey, why don't you ask Hinata to dance." Sakura stated, rolling her eyes as Naruto's skin tone started to darken. "Stop blushing and go help her. She looks so nervous and maybe seeing you flail around on the dance floor like a fish will help her." Naruto nodded, seeming unsure of himself.

She smiled as Hinata and Naruto came towards her, placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder as they past by her. Sakura took her spot at the bar where Hinata had previously stood and turned to watch the awkward couple.

'_I wonder if they will ever get through this phase and act comfortably around each other.'_ Her inner's thoughts sounded annoyed and Sakura laughed. _'I'm serious; their little crush fest has been going on for years. Someone just needs to make a move already. I'm so tired of waiting!'_

'_I hope no one makes a move, this is simply too entertaining.'_ She put an elbow behind herself on the bar, smiling at the two on the dance floor when she felt eyes on her. Sakura turned her head to the right when she saw a body moving in her direction out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey." She shouted as Sasuke took a position to her left, leaning on the bar next to her and ordering a drink. "What did he need from you?" Sakura questioned, motioning her head back to where the bouncer was that Sasuke was talking to.

"I'm trying to get a table in the VIP section so we aren't bothered so much." Sasuke glared at the girls that were standing in the area he just walked from. One of them winked at him and Sakura chuckled.

"So _we_ aren't bothered so much? Do you mean you?" Sasuke turned to lean against the bar next to Sakura.

"Yeah, whatever. Where's Naruto." He asked, glancing around to see if he could spot his spikey haired blonde friend in the groups of people standing around them.

"There." Sakura nodded her head in the direction of where one of the entrances to the dance floor was, except there were now people standing in the way of seeing Naruto and Hinata. "You're friend decided he wanted a dance with Hinata."

Sasuke looked shocked for about two seconds before he nodded, "Your doing I assume?" A smile was the only answer he received.

She was nodding her head to the song that was playing when Sakura felt Sasuke's gaze on her. Turning her body to face Sasuke, Sakura looked up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"You look good." It was a simple compliment but Sakura couldn't help but be a little taken back by it.

"T-Thanks. Ino said I looked unapproachable." Sakura offered a small smile and turned back towards the dance floor, taking a sip of her drink.

"Good." Sasuke mumbled.

"What?" Sakura, yelled.

"Nothing. Do you…" Instead of actually asking her to dance, Sasuke just motioned towards the dance floor. Sakura looked at the dance floor and then back at Sasuke, unable to hold back the laugh that escaped her.

"With you? No thank you. Remember last time I tried at Kiba's birthday? No way. I'd definitely need like, ten more drinks in me." Sakura stated, finishing off her current drink and placing it on the bar behind her.

"How about a shot." Sasuke said, motioning to the bartender to order them something that would be 'smooth' going down but hit hard. However, Sakura had yet to taste any kind of hard alcohol that was smooth when she drank it. Shots sucked.

"No- no Sasuke-"

"Just be quiet and take it. They say I'm up tight but you're more high strung then ever. You're not driving home, Shikamaru is. Just have fun with your friends, Sakura. Stop making things more complicated than they are." Sakura stared at Sasuke wide eyed, a little surprised that he was saying that to her. Maybe even slightly offended.

There had been a point in her life where she would have jumped at the thought of dancing with Sasuke, who had been her high school crush. However, she was older now, and though she still might find him physically attractive, his personality wasn't something she would prefer in a significant other.

'_Geez, you know it's bad when stick-in-the-ass calls you out. He's right, let's have fun! When was the last time we really danced?'_ Sakura mentally throttled her inner.

'_We've never really danced before, precisely because we can't dance. Stupid.'_ She looked down at the shot that was placed in front of her and then back at Sasuke.

"I can't really dance to this music." Sakura stated. She couldn't really dance to any music but she wasn't going to say that to him out loud. Especially since he already figured that, she was sure.

"Look around, Sakura," Sasuke started, offering her a smirk, "No one can. That's why clubs are the perfect place to get lost. There are just enough people to not be noticed and let go. You just move. Feel the music, the alcohol, and move." He took back his shot, placed the glass on the bar and looked at Sakura expectantly.

"Fine." And with that she did her best to take down her shot. She couldn't help the disgusted face she made as it ran down her throat, burning like nothing else could when Sasuke began to drag her to the stairs leading to the dance floor.

They weaved their way through some bodies standing around the stairs and started down. Sakura was looking for Ino when she spotted her, dancing away like it was something she was born to do. Next to her stood Hinata and Naruto, smiling and dancing with one another. Sakura tapped Sasuke shoulder and simply pointed towards her friends.

Coming up to Ino, she wasn't surprised when the girl jumped on her. Smelling the alcohol on her breath, Sakura wondered whom she scored more drinks from and in such a short time.

"I'M SO GLAD YOU CAME DOWN HERE!" Ino screamed, causing Sakura to cringe and nod at her. However, Sasuke pulled her away from Ino and into his embrace, placing his mouth near her ear.

"Just remember, move to the music." Sakura nodded, feeling a little bit awkward. As the song continued she felt her cheeks warm slightly, the shot was beginning to hit her. This was to be expected since her and her friends hadn't really eaten anything before starting their night out.

She found moving to this type of music easier than she had thought it would be. The music that was being played was some mixture of dub step and electric dance music, and she had to admit, she enjoyed those drops in the songs. As she looked around at the bodies moving in sync next to them, she realized just how little everyone cared about what they were doing. They were just enjoying themselves. Sasuke was right.

That's when she felt it again, that same feeling like she couldn't breath and she moved to the side of Sasuke, still facing him, trying to get a view of the crowd behind him.

'_Sakura…'_ Sakura ignored her inner's voice as her eyes connected with jade for the second time that night. Sasuke had moved to stand behind her now as the next song was starting and she was now fully in the line of sight of the red haired man from before. He was only about 20 feet away from her. For the first time, Sakura was appreciative for all of the bodies pressed against one another standing between her and the man. But even as those bodies moved between them, it felt like he was right in front of her.

'_Sakura, I have a really bad feeling about this.'_ Sakura ignored her inner, yet again. Captivated by the man before her and why he seemed to be seeking her out. Normally, when someone was starring at her or giving her unwanted attention, Sakura would shoot a glare at whoever the said person was and that generally got them away from her. But for some reason, though she was glad for the space between them, she was curious.

Suddenly the song began to pick up it's pace and as it did, so did Sakura's heart beat. Though the song was picking up speed, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion around her.

Sasuke moving behind her, pulling her to him and placing his face in the crook of her neck as he moved her body along with his to the song.

'_Sakura!'_

The bodies moving in unison around her.

'_Sakua!'_

And the red haired man. His lips began moving and as Sakura watched them move she felt something click inside of her.

And then came the drop.

'_SAKURA!'_

It came out of nowhere and felt like electricity. Suddenly, Sakura didn't care about anything; she just wanted to move. She flung her head back and felt it land on the top of Sasuke's shoulder as she moved her body against his in perfect unison to the beat of the song, no longer needing him to guide her.

All at once she felt drunk. She felt alive. She felt everything.

And she didn't want it to stop, not ever.

A body was pressed to the front of hers, a female she didn't know. Sakura left the embrace of Sasuke as the female pulled her closer, meshing their bodies into one solid movement.

'_What a beautiful feeling.' _Was she high? Did Sasuke drop something in that drink? She wasn't sure. But she didn't really care. At the moment, she felt like she was glowing.

And looking back at the situation, she would have realized it was because she was.

'**Sakura' **The voice inside her head was foreign, something she had never heard before, and it was radiating power. Her attention was pulled elsewhere though as someone came behind her to join her and her new female friend in their movements.

'_God, this song. This music.' _Sakura slid her eyes closed, still moving. As she did she found herself faced with a pair of gold and red eyes starring at her inside of her head.

And some how, everything froze. Sakura's eyes immediately shot open as the music was silenced and the trance she was in was broken.

Her eyes widened at the scene before her. She was still in the club, dim lights and all. But everyone was frozen. The people that had been surrounding her were now in the air, like they were being flung backwards. However, they too were frozen.

"What…" Sakura couldn't help it when her breathing began to pick up as she turned to look at her friends, who were also frozen in whatever dance position they had been in moments ago. What was happening?

'_Maybe I really was high. But I got too high…. And everyone's in slow motion. Is there a drug that does that?'_ Sakura asked herself, trying to make sense of the situation at hand.

"Gaara, you were supposed to prevent a scene. Not create one." Whipping her head around, Sakura looked for the owner of the voice in the now quiet club.

There was a man standing on the higher level of the club that over looked the dance floor to her left. He was dressed in a black suit, long hair looked to be pulled back in a ponytail behind him. His black stare was directed solely on Sakura.

"I was. However, someone decided they wanted a scene to happen. Deidara?" Sakura turned her head to face the front of the club where another voice came from; it was the red head from before. He was also standing on the higher level that over looked the dance floor.

'_He was 20 feet away from me like 5 seconds ago.'_ Sakura thought to herself. Why were they moving but no one else was. Why were the people that were touching her body only seconds ago, now frozen in mid air around her?

"I wanted to see if it was the real deal, yeah. I mean, how long have we been waiting for this? Man, you don't disappoint." Sakura's head turned to the right to land on a blonde male that was sitting on the railing that ran along the upper level floor. His gaze was excited, as he looked her over. "If Sasori had been here, he would have marveled at the sight of you."

'_Sakura…'_ Sakura's gaze shot to the wooden floor in front of her as her inner finally spoke up. _'Sakura, I'm going to need to do something you won't like.'_ She felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

"What is going on!" Sakura demanded, done with the confusion she was feeling. She was looking at the blonde to her right as she demanded an answer, but it was the black haired man to her left that spoke.

"Miss, I'm sure you are terribly confused at the moment. However, there is not enough time for an explanation. I'm going to need you to come with us. It is not safe for us to remain here." Sakura gaped at him unbelievingly. Did she really think she was just going to do that?

"Like hell." Sakura spat, taking a step back. It was at that time the red hai- Gaara was it? Began to speak.

"It wasn't a suggestion." Sakura watched as he gripped the rail in front of himself and jumped over it, landing on the dance floor and heading for Sakura; shoving bodies out of his way as he went. "You'll be coming with us whether you would like to or not."

Sakura couldn't help the fear that shot through her as he got closer.

"It would be easier on everyone if you didn't try to fight, yeah. We don't want to hurt you." Sakura heard the blonde man but her eyes didn't leave Gaara. Contrary to the blonde man's words, he looked as if he would love to hurt her.

'_Sakura, there's something I need to tell you. But right now is not the time. I need to get us out of here and the only way to do that is if you let me gain control of our body.'_ Sakura was panicking as her inner spoke, backing up as much as she could before she came into contact with a frozen body.

'_What do you mean? What is happening? Do you know them some how?'_ Sakura asked herself, feeling like she was in some sort of dream.

'_There is not time!'_ Her inner self screamed.

"AH!" Sakura grunted and fell to the floor on her knees, unknown pain filling her. She placed a hand on the floor in front of her and looked to her left at the man who hadn't left his position on the higher level. His eyes widened as her breathing slowed and her body began to feel extremely hot. Suddenly he was on the dance floor with her, trying to get to her, like Gaara.

'_You have complete control of my body. Please, please, please, help me!'_ Sakura screamed in her mind, scared of what was going to happen when the strangers got to her. As Gaara entered the small clearing surrounding her, Sakura felt her body arch and a scream escaped her mouth.

And then she felt nothing.

* * *

**Writer's Note:** Hi! If you've come this far, I'm sure you've become aware that this story isn't placed in the typical time period of Naruto. I also will not cross languages throughout the story because I feel like that leaves my writing scattered. I do not know how to speak Japanese properly, so I'd rather not insult those that do. Gaara will have his traditional tattoo on his forehead though! This story concept randomly popped into my head, so here's the beginning of it. It's been a while since I've tried to write an in depth story for Naruto so I apologize if the characters seem off. But I do like to add my own little touch to them.

Any feedback helps, it makes me feel pushed to continue to update stories as well as excited! So, if you enjoyed it, please let me know!

~Chey


	2. The Conflict

_"The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. So why is it that history always manages to repeat itself?"_

* * *

"It-" Gaara's voice was cut short as the hand around his throat squeezed harder, making the simple of act of breathing extremely difficult.

When he had rushed their target only moments ago, Gaara had gained far too much momentum in trying to prevent the Clavis inside of the girl from completely awakening. When she did change, he had already been in the process of reaching for her with his right arm. The girl had leaned to her left, avoiding him easily. She used Gaara's own weight against himself forcing him to fall forward. Instead of connecting with the ground like he was preparing for, the girl had slipped her right hand under his head, pulling him up by his throat and holding him in front of her.

His feet were only slightly off the ground due to her shorter height in comparison to his. Trying as hard as he could to pull the one hand from his throat that held him, Gaara realized he wasn't getting very far.

'_This is almost embarrassing.'_ He thought to himself. Jade eyes looked down into the girls face to clash with her now gold and dark red eyes. They reminded him of cat eyes. The pupils were oval shaped with a thick dark red color outlining them and gold filled the rest of the area that would normally be white. Looking at them almost made him uncomfortable to some degree because of how alien they appeared.

"We did not come here to fight, Clavis. We are here on behalf of our people. We would like you to come with us. You will be safer, now that your presence has been… realized." Gaara watched as the girl's eyes shifted to his right towards the area were Itachi was. She held no emotion on her face as she spoke.

"My presence is realized now because your kind is too foolish to mind their place. Do you think I do not know what you are, Guardian?" The girl waited for Itachi's response, but it was Deidara who spoke.

"What of the Hunters, Clavis? What will you do when they start coming for you? They will have felt that little blast you just let out easily, yeah." Deidara was standing to Gaara's left. However, Deidara was too far behind Gaara for him to see him in his peripheral.

"They would have found you eventually, even without our interference. We tracked you to this general area from the little bursts of chakra that you have been releasing over the past year. It seems as though your host's emotions are channeling your chakra." The girl, still holding him, looked up at Gaara as she listened to Itachi. Her expression was that of boredom and he could tell that she felt no ounce of fear in regards to him and his teammates; probably having already scanned their chakra levels.

"They will hunt you down, Clavis. The Hunters of this age know no mercy." The girl's gaze shot towards Itachi, something in his words catching her attention. Gaara took that moment to make his escape from her grasp. He lifted his left leg to land on the girl's right shoulder, aiming a kick at her head with his other foot.

She was too fast. Before he could land his blow; he was thrown backwards. Maneuvering himself into a backflip, Gaara easily landed on his feet crouching down and looking up at the girl that was now about 20 feet away from him. What was peculiar to him was the lack of force she used in throwing him. _'Maybe a fight isn't exactly what she is looking for either.'_

"Sakura." She said simply. "In this body, I am referred to as Sakura." She was staring at Gaara as she spoke. Sakura looked him over as if he were a bug she just flicked away, brushing the unseen dirt from her shoulder where he had placed his foot.

He took this moment to take in the physical features that had changed on Sakura since the Clavis took over. She was glowing but it wasn't a bright glow. Instead of it emitting from her skin it was more like a faint gold light was floating about a quarter of an inch off of her skin. Her pink hair now held random strands of white throughout it. At the top of the girl's shirt on her chest was the beginning of a tattoo that had not been there before.

"Hunter or Guardian, you are all the same to me. Both of your namesakes are stained with innocent blood, shed for pointless and selfish reasons. Neither one of you are to be trusted. I know this from personal experience." Her head shifted back to Itachi. "Do you think because I have not come to the surface for many years that I would forget my history with your kind." Her voice remained void of any emotion. Gaara wondered if her lengthy existence in their world played a part in the apathy she displayed.

Then he felt it. The air around them was thickening, filling with the power that Sakura was allowing to slowly seep out of herself. She was doing it intentionally, trying to intimidate them.

'_Itachi needs to get the seal on that girl before she completely recovers her strength.' _Gaara thought to himself, glancing at the said teammate to see if he had felt the change in the air as well. However, his teammates face revealed nothing.

"The Hunters will have as much of an affect on me as you have had. Which is none. You say you did not come here for a fight, but how could you have expected anything other than that?" Sakura started forward, shadows from the dim light of the club were shifted away from her path as her glow reached them. She stopped in the middle of the three men, which formed a triangle shape around her.

"We were hoping to run across you before your shift, but that's my fault, yeah. You should understand that times are different now. It has been a while since you have come to the surface… Cla- Sakura." Deidara started. Gaara watched as his teammates armed twitched and looked down at the man's hands; they were in a fist. He was in the process of creating something; Deidara was definitely preparing for a fight. "Many things are around now that were not before. Things you may not be so prepared for. We can not risk you falling into the wrong hands."

Sakura looked over at Deidara, and he immediately stilled as to not gain suspicion from her. As she gave Deidara her attention, Itachi started his own preparation on the seal they were to use to subdue the Clavis back inside of Sakura. It was a powerful seal, which would require almost all of Itachi's chakra taking him out of the fight, if one should occur.

"Do you think time stood still when I lay dormant in the other bodies that held me for years at a time before being awoken like you have awoken me now? Did you think their own abilities did not advance with time? And where are they now? Where are those men that sought me out as you seek me out now?" She turned completely to face Deidara, tilting her head to the left as a dark gaze fell on her face.

"They are on picture frames or have been written into stories, I assume. Lining the walls of the Guardian's base as a distant memory. Because that is all that was left of them. I am warning you now, allow my departure without your interference and I will allow you to live." She took a step towards Deidara, continuing. "Because I promise you, no text book, tales of my legend, nor special techniques, will have prepared you enough for what I will actually do to you."

Gaara's eyes met with Itachi, who nodded at him for them to go forward with plan B. Plan A had been to capture Sakura before she shifted, however that was no longer an option.

Gaara felt for his sand that lay in a pouch that was tied around his waist. He only had a little bit of it with him since they had been relying on plan A to work out. He would have to be strategic with his hits. Not only did he have to be strategic, they were to complete their mission without any casualties of the civilians around them if the Clavis did awaken. Thankfully, although the girl was powerful, they had one thing that might be able to ensure their survival of encountering her; she was highly underestimating them.

'_This will be interesting.'_ He couldn't help the slight increase of his heart beat as excitement started to fill him. This was the legendary Clavis, the being they had heard stories of but that no one alive today had ever come into contact with it. They would be the first of their generation. And if the legends were true, they would be lucky to even survive a fight with it, let alone walk away. It had been a while since Gaara had faced true power, and technically speaking they had all been preparing their whole lives in case this moment were to happen.

Now to grab her attention and keep it on him and Deidara while Itachi worked on the seal.

"You sure do like to hear the sound of your own voice don't you?" Gaara's own voice was calm as he spoke. He watched with calculating eyes as she stopped moving towards Deidara and turned her head to look at him. "Maybe it's because you've been hiding out for a while now and have had no one else to boast to. You know, they speak of you with such respect, but really aren't you just a child that has been hiding out from your responsibilities?"

"A child berating me about responsibilities?" A dark smile formed on her face, the first real change in her facial features, a part from boredom, that Gaara had seen. "You should be more careful with your words, boy. You look a lot like a Guardian I once came across. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to finish the kill. I'll be sure to make up for it with you."

Without another warning, the girl was in front of him aiming a punch at his head. Gaara instinctively let his weight go as he went to fall into a crouching position. However, he was to slow and his legs were suddenly kicked out from under him. As he landed on the floor he put a force of chakra into his left hand to push himself into a role away from the foot that was coming down towards his head. He was crouching on his feet again as he looked over the hole in the floor where his head had just been moments ago.

She was aiming to kill, which made the situation a little more delicate since they could not risk her death. She needed to be brought back alive. Sakura started to rush him again and Gaara didn't even have to think as his sand was suddenly manipulated to his control and heading straight for her.

She stumbled backwards as Gaara landed a slap to her face, leaving a red mark in their trail. He had only needed enough force in his blow to put her in a better position to carry out their plan.

Sakura, who started forward, was stopped as a little piece of clay, shaped to look like a bird, landed on her right shoulder. She looked over at Deidara, which was the direction it had come from.

"Think of it as a welcoming gift, yeah!" The man didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously as he smiled at Sakura while kissing his palm and sending a kiss in the girls direction. Sakura brought her left hand up to flick the useless object away from her, unimpressed. However, as her finger connected with the bird it set off a small explosion on her shoulder, sending her flying into the unaware bodies behind her.

When the girl opened her eyes again, emerald green orb were looking around in confusion. Gaara hesitated, unsure of why the Clavis was no longer in control of the girl's body. Was it the explosion that brought the real Sakura back to her senses? Was that even possible?

Before anything could be questioned, Itachi took that moment to act, knowing they might not get another chance to lay the seal if the Clavis took control again. He launched at Sakura, who looked up at his approaching form with fear. She began to crawl backwards, trying to get away from his reach.

Inches away from Sakura's forearm, Itachi watched as the girls eyes shifted back to the dark red and gold they had been seconds before. His hand was only able to graze her forearm before he was interrupted with his task. The Clavis, realizing what he was doing, had landed an extremely powerful punch to Itachi's face, knocking him off of her and back in the direction he had come from.

Standing, the girl looked down at her arm, assessing the damage. There was a faint blue circle on it now. She looked over at Itachi, who was slowly getting up.

"You thought it would be so easy? Your ignorance has cost you a very valuable sense, Guardian." That was all the attention Sakura gave Itachi as her sights seemed to be set back on Deidara. She was glowing a little more brightly now, her shirt and vest ripped in different places to match her jeans because of Deidara's little welcoming gift.

Gaara watched as the two of them began fighting and contemplated his next move. Although Sakura was fast, and Deidara's strengths didn't generally lay in close quarter combat, he was able to keep up defensively with her hits. But Deidara couldn't last forever, especially with the power behind Sakura. Beginning to use the little sand he had, he began to head towards the two of them.

He manipulated the sand to slide around Sakura's wrists, which he then forced behind her back. The girl turned towards him at the interruption, ready to launch. Taking advantage of her distraction, Deidara aimed a kick at the back of Sakura's right knee, forcing her to the ground.

Deidara started to lean his head down to Sakura's. He was about to say something completely unnecessary, Gaara was sure, when the back of Sakura's head connected with Deidara's nose. Gaara almost winced at the crunching sound that promised a broken nose.

'_Serves the fool right.'_

Sakura looked up at Gaara and began to move. He blocked a sidekick to his abdomen and held on to Sakura's leg, trying to knock her off balance. Using her own momentum and the hold Gaara had on her right leg, Sakura twisted her body around so her left leg also came off of the ground. She landed a hard blow to the left side of Gaara's face. It knocked him off of his feet and sent him a relative distance away from her with the amount of chakra the girl had laced in the kick.

Landing back on her feet and breaking through the sand that held her arms behind her back, Sakura turned back to face Deidara. He was on one knee holding his nose that she had broken.

Gaara was making his way to his knees, watching them as the ringing sound in his head from the girls kick refused to go away. Sakura reached for Deidara's throat with her left hand, instinctively stopping his right hand inches from her face as he tried to land a punch.

Something slimy landed on the right side of Sakura's cheek. Disgust her face at whatever substance was now on it and she slowly turned to look at Deidara's hand that was inches from her head. There sat probably one of the oddest deformities Sakura had ever seen, a mouth. And it was smiling at her. Furious that he had the nerve to lick her, Sakura looked down at Deidara. He was grinning up at her, showing no remorse for his action.

"Didn't your Guardians ever tell you? Respect your elders." Without wasting another breath, she landed a blow straight to Deidara's head, knocking him out cold.

Sakura stood their frowning at Deidara's body and then looked at her own arm, confusion on her face. Gaara wondered if it was the seal that held the girl's confusion. However, he didn't have a chance to question it as the club and everything in it came back to life.

He started to panic as people in the club began filling the empty spaces on the dance floor they had created in their short little battle, separating him from Sakura. In all honesty, everyone had probably only been frozen for a total of seven minutes. Confusion filled those that unfroze on the ground when they had been standing up a second before.

"She's gone, I can no longer feel her chakra." Gaara frowned at his teammates statement, still searching the people around him. "And unfortunately, I'm now blind. When she landed her punch, her chakra went straight for my eyes. Where is Deidara?" Itachi didn't look around as he spoke, knowing it would be useless.

"She knocked him out after he licked her face." Itachi sighed, shaking his head at his teammates statement.

"One of the people she was with was my brother. Grab Deidara. When he wakes he will get the information from Sakura's friends on where she might be heading. I need to get to Tsunade." Gaara nodded and turned to head into the sea of bodies surrounding them with Itachi behind him. Gaara took his frustration out on the people around them, pushing bodies out of his way with unnecessary force. He was pissed and he was definitely not looking forward to the screaming from his boss that lay ahead of them.

**XxXxXx**

Strong hands slammed on the desk in front of the three boys. Gaara noticed Deidara out of his peripheral, standing to his left, had taken a small step backwards.

'_No amount of distance will save us.'_ Gaara thought.

Itachi was standing on the other side of Deidara, unaffected by the lash of anger that came from the powerful female in front of them.

"You had one job! One fucking job and you couldn't do it! Not only could you not do it, one of you was almost killed!" Deidara looked at the floor knowing that statement was directed at him. "And another was blinded. Almost permanently if it weren't for me! Most of you have been training your entire life for this exact moment!"

Tsunade, who had been standing up and leaning over her desk to yell at them, slowly let out a breath. She grabbed the chair behind her and sat down, now glaring at the three in front of her.

"I know Deidara is a new body to the two of you, but this does not excuse such an unacceptable failure. Now we have no leads, the Clavis has been awaken, and I'm sure every Hunter in the area felt her awakening." She shook her head and leaned forward on her desk.

"If I may interrupt, ma'am." Itachi's voice was calm, and he stared at Tsunade, waiting for her to allow him to continue. With a reluctant sigh, she waved her hand forward.

"It was not a complete failure. My seal grazed her arm, which meant that it touched her. Although, simply touching her does nothing permanent, the power of the seal is enough that it will subdue her for at least a little while." Itachi finished, watching as Tsunade held a calculating look.

"I saw it when I licked her, yeah. When I sent my little spider on her, I noticed a glow out of the corner of my eye. There was a faint blue circle. It might also explain my survival. If the seal was beginning to work, it would affect the amount of power in the Clavis' chakra." Deidara nodded as he finished.

"What… spider." Tsunade's voice was darker. Gaara, who had been looking at Deidara as he spoke, glanced back at Tsunade, noticing the change in her tone.

"uh… I deployed a spider on to her when she was distracted so we could track her." Tsunade shot back up and grabbed the nearest thing to her, chucking it at Deidara.

"Is that not information you thought valuable for me to hear!" The woman was seriously about to lose her shit.

"You literally told us to shut up when you asked us where the Clavis was and found out we didn't have it, yeah!" Deidara was holding his head where the stapler landed that Tsunade had thrown at him. He held another hand out in defense as he continued, thinking she was going to attack him. "When we were about to give you a briefing you started freaking out, yeah!" Glaring at the blonde, Tsunade took a deep breath and smoothed out the front of her clothing, trying to compose herself.

"Fair enough. Itachi, let's start with your report." She walked back to her chair and sat.

Each of the three men gave a report of what they had seen from the beginning to the end of their mission with Deidara being the last to speak. Though Tsunade almost killed Deidara again when he talked about his hand licking Sakura, overall she seemed slightly less pissed. He finished with the information he had also gained from talking to the group of people that Sakura had walked into the club with, and trailing them when they left the club.

"Although we do not have control of the Clavis, at least we have some way of finding it. Deidara, can you still feel your bug on her." The said man nodded and Tsunade continued, "Good. Use the information you gained from her acquaintances and scout out the area where she may be. Though the Clavis may be sealed at the moment, it does not mean it can't still detect the chakra in the spider that you left behind on her host. I apologize for my out burst before." Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk to lean on the front of it, facing the three men and crossing her arms.

"Obviously we do not have the advantage. Our kind has not found the Clavis for a very long time now. Though stories and documentation of what it can do are useful and your training helps immensely, you could not have been fully prepared to go up against something we have no recent information about. But the seal, even though temporary, can be used. If we find it now, the only thing you will be facing physically is the actual girl. Bring her back here so Itachi can place a more accurate seal on her." Tsunade looked over the three of them and continued.

"You're all healed now, but you must be careful. Her hits on you were chakra infused and she pushed that chakra into each of your bodies, poisoning you. Deidara, she almost killed you. Itachi, I almost couldn't heal your eyes. On you specifically it was like she saw that your eyes were your biggest disadvantage and went for them immediately. What you also must be aware of is that you will probably run into Hunters now." They all nodded at her.

"Go now. Grab what you need and head out. There isn't any time to be wasted." With another unison of nods, the team before her started out of the door behind them. Tsunade sighed as her door shut. She placed a hand to her head as she felt a headache coming on.

"Is it wise to send them again. It might have gone better the first time if you had people that were actually compatible, working together." Tsunade nodded at the voice that came from behind her.

"Maybe, Kakashi, but those three boys hold the most potential. We do not have time to invest in team building exercises. They will have to work out any combat issues they have as they go along. The Clavis has been awoken." She pushed off of her desk and turned to face her friend behind her.

"And I fear that this time, with this awakening, has triggered the beginning of the prophecy." Kakashi, who had been leaning on one of Tsunade's bookcases reading, looked up immediately.

"How can you be sure?" His tone was serious as he spoke.

"Because in their report they spoke of the girl breaking the Clavis' hold in the middle of their fight. That is unheard of in any encounters our kind has previously had with the Clavis. Once it is triggered, it has complete control of the body it is in until it has run it's sources dry and moves to the next host, laying dormant until it is awoken again. Now, thanks to advances, we have the possibilities of the seal to allow the host to regain control of their body for a time, but even then Itachi said the girl gained control of her body before he touched her with his seal."

"What will you have me do, Tsunade?" Kakashi stood straight up now, waiting for orders

"Trail them to ensure everything goes smoothly. But there is nothing that can be done until we have her in our protection. If this is the beginning of the old prophecy, if the hunters get a hold of the Clavis, I fear our worst nightmares are to come. If the girl can control the Clavis, then there may be hope. So get the girl." Kakashi nodded at Tsunade, heading for her door. He paused before exiting and turned back towards Tsunade.

"What is the girls name." Tsunade walked back around her desk and pulled out a bottle from a drawer, holding some form of alcohol, and a glass. She poured some of the liquid into her cup and put the bottle to the side. She sat down and looked at the contents in her glass before taking a drink.

"Her name is Sakura."

* * *

**Writer Note: **This chapter took a while, even had to re-write the first part of it. I don't normally write fighting scenes so I apologize for any inconsistencies. Note that any confusion on what Sakura really is or even what 'Clavis' means, will be explained in later chapters. Though you can look up the meaning to that word as well. I do appreciate any feedback!

~Cheye


	3. The Park

_'Often times the choice must be made between what we want ourselves to be and what we are meant to be.'_

* * *

Sakura was currently sitting on a bench in the middle of a park that she was beginning to recognize from her earlier childhood. It wasn't odd that she some how found her way back to this familiar location, which was completely empty besides her presence.

Neither was it odd that it was snowing. The entire area surrounding her was completely covered in a fresh blanket of snow. It was a sight to be seen, especially basked in the twilight glow.

What was odd was that even though fresh snow covered the ground, she was clad in only a simple white sundress and she felt no chill. Not even the slightest shiver from the lack of clothing in such cold weather.

"Strange." She took in the area surrounding her, feeling a slight panic build inside of her at how empty the park was. There were no other life forms in the distance. The only sound was the slight breeze that ran through the park.

"I would apply the word 'beautiful', myself." Sakura, who had been gazing off to her right at the surrounding trees and grass, slowly turned her head to the left to find a woman sitting next to her on the bench. She hadn't even heard her approach. Where did she come from?

The woman was covered from her shoulders to her knees in a crimson cloak, where the cloak stopped in the middle of the woman's calves white skin showed leading to a pair of bare feet. Half of the woman's white and greyish hair was in a ponytail, with the rest of it flowing in loose curls behind the bench and out of sight. She had bangs that fell to the sides of her face, obstructing Sakura's full view of it.

As she stared at the woman Sakura felt a foreign calmness settle into her. From what she could see of the lady, Sakura had never met her before. But for some reason she felt her muscles loose their tension as if she were in the presence of a friend. She smiled at the woman, nodding her head once in agreement.

"I suppose I would agree." She turned her head to look at the playground that lay in front of them, content in simply sitting there with the stranger for the time being.

"Would you like to know my name?" Sakura's eyes moved to stare at the untouched snow in front of them_. _

'_That's strange, isn't it? If I walked here wouldn't there be a trail leading to the bench.'_ She started looking around herself, trying to figure out how she ended up on the bench she was on now.

"Sakura." The voice that held a sense of lightness to it before now held a tone of command. Sakura brought her attention back to the stranger on the bench who was staring at her. She couldn't help her own eyes widened as she stared into the woman's eyes sitting merrily a foot away from her. She recognized those crimson and gold eyes.

"But from where?" her question was spoken out loud and the woman simply stared at Sakura, unfazed by the half finished question. She took in the other features on the strangers face. There were a string of tattoos that outlined the woman's face and came down to either side of her neck to disappear into the cloak. The majority of lines were black, with a deep red color outlining some of the shapes. It almost looked like a Celtic design, but Sakura wasn't sure. She had a curved nose and well-defined cheekbones that lead to a soft chin.

Realizing that she was staring, and for quite a while, Sakura mentally shook her head and tried to remember what the woman was asking her before.

"I guess I wouldn't mind knowing your name." At that, the woman turned to look at the floor in front of Sakura.

"Well, I do suppose I have had many names. The name that most have called me has been Clavis. But I am not particularly keen on that one." Sakura slowly nodded as she listened and turned her head to stare back at the playground. She didn't think she would be either, it sounded kind of ugly and the name had harshness to it.

"Then how about you just pick the name that you like the most and I will call you that one." Sakura turned to look back at the woman who seemed to be in deep thought now.

"Well, I enjoyed the name Lydia. It was simple and sounds nice on the tongue." Lydia looked back up at Sakura, gaging her reaction.

"Then Lydia it is." Smiling, Sakura intertwined her fingers and placed her hands in her lap. "I am a little bit confused as to how I got here. As pretty as it may seem, I live nowhere near this place anymore. Last I remembered it was also the middle of summer."

"Dreams hardly ever make sense, Sakura. That's what marks them as being so beautiful and enticing to us. We crave the things that are the opposite of our reality." Sakura frowned; of course it was a dream.

"That would make sense." It would especially make sense since she seemed to be going with the flow of the situation, letting whatever may happen, happen. She was acting uncharacteristically carefree besides being curious. "But I wonder why here? Why now?" Sakura asked out loud.

"Why not?" Lydia stated, not seeming to care for the whys or hows.

"I believe that, although you are right about craving things that are the opposite of our reality, I also think dreams, especially ones like these, have a purpose." Sakura started fidgeting with her hands in her lap when she felt the woman's gaze land on her.

"I mean… I don't remember the last time I have dreamt of this park- if I ever have. The only memories I have of this place are when its been packed with people. Its completely empty, to the point of being border line creepy; if I'm being completely honest here." As Sakura continued she could feel herself starting to get worked up, but why? There wasn't a clear answer. But the emotions felt right.

She stood up, walking towards the playground in front of her. "And why snow? Beautiful, of course, but unnecessary. And-" Sakura cut herself off as she looked closer at the playground in front of her and realized that it was completely untouched from the snow.

"And what, Sakura?" Frowning, she shook her head confused. This person was talking to her as if she were her own person. Not as if she was another character in one of Sakura's dreams. This also felt like the most real dream she had ever had in her life. She didn't feel like a spectator in this dream who was simply waiting for the night to pass by with random dreams. She felt like this was really happening, and there was no waking up because this was reality. It felt important.

"Is this… real?" Sakura turned to face Lydia; she walked forward as she did, feet crunching in the snow. It should have been another reminder to her that this could only be a dream since she felt no cold touch her skin.

"It could be. It could be many things. Like you said, in only so many words, it could be your subconscious trying to tell you something. It could be a foreshadowing for the events that are only just beginning. It could be a glance in to the distant past skewed in a way to help your mind realize something. Or, " The woman started, now standing herself. She seemed to be a good half of a foot taller than Sakura.

"It is only a dream." Sakura looked into her eyes as Lydia spoke. A foreign feeling of power started to fill the surrounding area and Sakura felt her eyes widen.

"I recognize your eyes." Sakura resisted the urge to lift a hand to reach out to the women before her, but she did take a step closer, bringing them about a foot away from each other.

A loud bang filled the area surrounding Sakura and Lydia. It didn't bother Sakura, but she watched as Lydia seemed to be looking up at the sky now with impatience filling her. There was a hesitation in her when she looked back at Sakura. Seeming to figure out what she wanted to say, she began to speak again.

"That is because you have seen them before. You have seen me before, and though ignorance is bliss, Sakura, soon you will need to awaken from your fake reality and understand what your life was really meant for. It wasn't meant for days spent in classrooms, learning useless material for a useless job. It wasn't meant for days relishing in the sun on the side of a beach somewhere, being with your closest companions. And it most certainly was not meant for you to have a child and live happily ever after with the person of your dreams. No." During the women's speech, Sakura moved to look down at the woman's cloak as Lydia spoke. But where Sakura hesitated in reaching out for Lydia, she took no hesitation at all. Sakura felt a hand slip under her chin and she allowed her gaze to land directly on Lydia's again.

"Unfortunately, your story was written long before you were even a thought in the spectrum. It is one that will be filled with devastation, sadness, power, longing and an undying hope for survival. You have a spark in you, and without it there would have never been a chance for your survival. Things will happen in the future. Things you can't control, the people closest to you will betray you. The ones you love the most… will be lost. And it will be your fault, but I hope in time you will understand that there would have been no other options. Through your sacrifices you will see things you have never seen before, experience your body like never before, and there will be a power about you that is undeniable. With time, of course. But, before any of those things can happen…" Lydia trailed off and her eyes left Sakura to stare at something behind her.

"Sakura…" Sakura's eyes widened as she heard her name come from behind her. Removing Lydia's hand from her chin, she slowly turned around.

Ino laid before her, covered from head to toe in scratches and blood. Before she could register what she was doing she was already running towards her friend, pulling her upper body into her lap and examining Ino's body.

"Ino… what happened?" Sakura felt tears forming in her eyes at the scene in front of her. It was unbearable. Who would do this to her friend? Especially Ino? She would never do anything to anyone!

Ino opened her mouth to answer Sakura, however the only thing that came out of her was a pool of blood that flooded onto Sakura's arms and white dress. The tears fell from her eyes and the only thing she could do was shake her head furiously and pull Ino into herself, hugging her tightly.

"Shush… it's okay, we'll figure this out. I'll figure it out. You'll be fine. Just relax. Just.." Sakura stopped her movements of rocking back and forth while holding her friend when she realized there was no longer any breath coming out of Ino. Slowly, Sakura brought Ino's form away from her so she could look down into a pair of lifeless blue eyes.

Another loud bang filled the area but Sakura was so focused on the dead girl that now lay in her arms that she hardly heard it.

She wasn't surprised when she felt a form near beside her. She barely registered that Lydia's form was leaning closer to Sakura's until the older woman's voice was right in her ear.

"Sometimes I find myself wondering why humans feel the need to make such connections with one another. In the end, someone always dies first. And the holes that they inevitably leave behind are never worth the memories that you can never again touch. In time, you will understand. But for now, our time together has come to a close. You're reality calls for you."

"Wake up Sakura." Sakura was still staring at Ino's lifeless body when her head immediately snapped up to her friends face as Ino's voice reached her. Her eyes connected with still lifeless ones and she watched in horror as blood continued to pour of her friends mouth even as she continued to speak.

"Wake UP!"

* * *

"Wake up! Seriously am I going to have to drag your ass to the shower? I said get up!" Sakura's eyes shot open and she found her gaze locked onto the same blue eyes in her dream… only these ones seemed to be angry. Sitting up immediately, Sakura began to look around the room as she continued to feel the panic that filled her from her dreams.

"God, what is wrong with you? Do you realize I have been trying to wake you up for like the past five minutes? Did you get that drunk last night?" Sakura looked like she was seeing Ino on her bed for the first time and stared at her with confusion.

"What? What are you talking about?" Her voice was slightly raised and she brought her hands up to rub her temples as she tried to calm herself down and ease away the headache that was forming in her head.

'_It was just a dream. Ino's fine, she's right in front of you, yelling.'_ Her breathing began to stabilize when Ino spoke again.

"I'm talking about how one minute you were in the club and the next minute you disappeared. I'm not going to lie it really worried me. I thought you got kidnapped or something. Sasuke began freaking out harder than anyone, though. He demanded we find you. It was actually kind of weird. Thankfully, when we came back here you were asleep in your bed. But you wouldn't wake up so I figured you just drank more than anyone noticed." Sakura felt her face scrunch up in confusion and as she tried to think back to last night but her headache just seemed to pound harder in her head as she did.

"But… you're alright… right? You seemed really panicky just a second ago when you woke up." She looked up at Ino and noticed the concern on her friends face.

"No… I mean yes I'm physically fine. I just had a really strange dream. You were in it, but you were dying for whatever reason. It just felt so real and towards the end of it I was staring in your dead eyes so when I woke up to those same eyes it freaked me the hell out. But I'm fine." Ino nodded at Sakura when she finished.

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine. And you need to get up, I'm pretty sure it's already 10:30 and knowing you, you probably have things to get done. It was just weird that you still weren't up yet so I kind of freaked out anyways and took it upon myself to wake you up. But now that you aren't dead, I'll go do something more interesting with my time." Ino got up and started walking towards the door when Sakura panicked.

"Ino, wait. What're you doing today?" Ino gave her a strange look before shrugging.

"Shikamaru is coming over later but other than that I didn't have much planned." Sakura let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Although it was just a dream, she still had a weird feeling and was glad when Ino didn't seem to be planning on going anywhere today. If she did, Shikamaru would probably be with her.

"Okay, never mind. I was just wondering." Ino rolled her eyes and grabbed Sakura's door but before she closed it all the way she had to make some snide remark.

"If you keep acting like a weirdo you'll never find a husband and I'm not going to be the one that sticks around to take care of you and your 50 cats." Sakura glared at the closed door, shaking her head.

'_On second thought, who cares about her life.' _She yanked the sheets off of her and reached for her purse at the side of her bed.

'_But I still feel uneasy.' _Sakura grabbed her phone out of her purse and started texting the one person she knew she could get an honest answer from when she asked their opinion about something.

'**Hey Naruto, Are you free at all today?' **Sakura glanced over the message after she sent it and then threw her phone to the side. It wasn't only Ino's death in the dream that bothered her, it was the entire dream that seemed to make her uneasy. The woman, the setting, and the way she felt in the dream, like she wasn't controlling it at all. Especially how drastically the dream took a turn for the worse, feeling like more of a nightmare.

Sakura grabbed her phone again when she felt it vibrate on the bed. Naruto stated that he was indeed free today and wondered what time she wanted to meet up.

'**As soon as you can, I can be ready to leave my house in a half an hour to meet at the normal place. Is that okay?' **She threw her phone back on the bed and started grabbing the clothes she would wear after her shower. As she walked past the mirror in the wall she stopped to look back at her reflection. Her eyes narrowed as something seemed to be stuck to the right side of her head.

"What the hell…" She reached up, pulling the foreign object out of her hair and looking it over. "Why… is there clay in my hair…" Sakura walked back towards her phone when it buzzed and glanced over Naruto's short reply of 'okay' before looking back at the object in her hand.

"Whatever" Tossing it in her trash bin, Sakura gathered her clothes and left her room to scrub away the rest of whatever remained from the night before.

* * *

Sakura reached over to her left bicep to scratch at the area under her sleeve for the umpteenth time that day. She was wearing a black t-shirt with some blue faded jeans and running shoes. For some reason the outside of her arm was extremely sore and really tingly.

"Did you catch fleas or something, Sakura? I know it's been a while but try to keep up on your personal hygiene." Naruto was met with a punch in the arm and a glare.

"No but if you continue to be stupid I'm going to throw you into that fountain over there to take care of some of your own hygiene. Seriously, it's called deodorant, at the least." Naruto grinned and took a sip of the coffee that Sakura had gotten him on her walk over to the nearby park. They hadn't met here for sometime and she was already beginning to feel lighter with his presence. Actually, her and Naruto hadn't hung out, besides the club last night, in a couple of months. She would have approached Ino today more seriously about what she was feeling but she honestly didn't think Ino would act seriously about Sakura and her dreams. Ino didn't know how to delve beyond the surface of things in life. This was also a reflection of her actual character. But Sakura didn't mind it; Ino was there for her whenever she could be.

"I bet you're wondering why I brought you out here." Sakura stated, drinking her own iced coffee.

"Not really, you know you don't need a reason to ever call me. I wouldn't mind if you just wanted to bask in my presence." Sakura stared at his grinning face and couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she did only call on him for her own selfish worries.

"But, since it seems as though something is bothering you, why don't you tell me about it." Sakura nodded at him, smiled slightly, and then let out a sigh. She turned to face the fountain that lay in front of them at the center of the park as she began to recall the events that took place in the dream. She told him about the park, which was easy because he used to play with her there. She told him about the snow, how everything was empty. She told him about the woman, although her memory was starting to fail her on what she looked like. She told him about Ino, how she died in her arms and everything that the woman had said to her.

When she was finished she was met with silence. After a while she turned to her right to stare at Naruto on the bench beside her. He seemed to be mulling over everything she just told him. Leaving him to contemplate it over she turned to her left to stare at a bunch of kids who were running around chasing each other.

Care free and unaware, they ran around displaying how utterly free they felt. Laughing, falling, running, and filled with the joys of what they only felt in that instant.

"Well," Sakura's eyes widened and she turned her head back around to hear what Naruto had to say, "I'm not going to say it's not weird… because it is." He looked at her.

"Have you ever had a dream that you can remember that was ever that vivid?" Sakura shook her head quickly, feeling excitement and relief that he thought it was weird as well.

"No! And that's the other weird thing, besides Ino's death which was completely morbid and horrible, I literally felt like I was talking to this woman in real life. She was talking to me with her own thoughts and was just as clear as you are to me right now sitting there." He nodded as I spoke.

"Well, it is weird, and I would definitely say to look closer at the details of the dream before it escapes you. Like, maybe they are signs of how you're feeling, being alone in the park could signify some kind of loneliness you might be feeling right now. The woman could even be significant to something, although only you would know what. But, in the end, it was just a dream. You know because you were physically woken up from it.

"Ino didn't die, you did not watch her death. She is still alive and she is fine. Although you may have extreme subconscious fears of her dying, this could also be because of how reckless she acts sometimes. Even watching her at the club last night I could see how she doesn't pay attention to her surroundings all the time. But she has all her friends to take care of her so I'm sure she'll always be fine." I nodded as he spoke, feeling a little bit better. We sat there for a little while in silence, a comfortable silence. She closed her eyes as a breeze blew past them and she enjoyed the feeling on her bare neck. She had chosen to put her hair up into a ponytail today.

"I know it was a dream. I know. But I have this feeling… that something terrible is coming and that I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything about it. What that woman said to me… her words really hit me. And I don't think they would have if I didn't already feel like something was coming. I still don't even remember what happened last night. I remember bits and pieces but it's like… my memory was cleared or something." She looked up to gage Naruto's reaction and he looked concerned.

"Do you think someone slipped something into your drink?" I shook my head.

"No the only drinks I had where the ones directly given to me from the bartender or with Sasuke, and apparently I disappeared without him last night so I'm pretty sure he didn't do anything. Not that I think he would do that anyways." Naruto nodded and looked back up at the fountain. His eyes narrowed and he looked down at the grass in front of them.

"Hey…do you know that guy over there." I looked to his right and then back at him.

"uh… what guy, Naruto?" Sakura's heart started to beat faster as Naruto seemed to be getting a little aggravated and she tried to see whom he might be talking about.

"The one across from us, look past the fountain." Sakura turned to her left, realizing she had been looking completely in the wrong direction.

Sakura's eyes landed on a figure that was clad in a black sports jacket looking thing and black jeans. He looked pretty plain to her. She lifted her eyes to his face and was surprised to find him staring right back at her.

"No… I don't thin-" Sakura's eyes widened as that same face flashed in her mind from last night. This was the same guy that had been staring at her from across the club! She averted her eyes as she felt her cheeks starting to warm.

"Yeah, actually. He was at the club with us last night." Sakura eyes glanced at Naruto's clenched fists. "It's fine though, he's all the way over there."

"He's literally been staring at you for like an hour straight. I'm about to go punch him in his ginger face." Sakura couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her at Naruto's anger.

"Seriously, Naruto it's fi-" Sakura was interrupted as a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Sakura!" She turned to her left, and her eyes widened as Sasuke was jogging towards them. He seemed to be extremely out of breath, which was unlike him, even if he was jogging to get to them. She smiled at him as he approached. He stopped jogging about five feet from them and was trying to catch his breath.

"Hey Sasuke. Why-" She was interrupted by Naruto.

"What the hell asshole, go find someone else's date to crash. And why do you look like you just ran 5 miles?" Sakura watched as Sasuke shot a glare towards Naruto.

"I've been looking for Sakura, idiot. If you would have told me you were meeting up with her I wouldn't have gone to her apartment first. That damn Yamanaka doesn't ever shut up." Sakura glanced back at Naruto as he started chuckling.

"Seriously, Sasuke. Are you okay? I don't know if I've ever seen you so out of breath." He glanced at her and shrugged; he looked like he finally found his breath and went back to trying to appear calm and collected.

"I was worried about you so I jogged here all the way from you're apartment." Neither Sakura, nor Naruto apparently, could understand the reasoning behind Sasuke's actions as they both spoke at the same time.

"What? Why?!" Sasuke sighed, glaring at the both of them.

"Obviously, I was worried. Is that not allowed? Am I not allowed to be worried for you?" Sakura started chuckling against her better judgment. He looked so serious but it really was out of character for him.

"I mean… not really. You've never worried about me before. Actually, I'm pretty sure you root for my failure at almost every chance you get." She watched him roll his eyes and looked at Naruto when he began to speak.

"And besides you randomly caring all of the sudden, how the hell did you know we would be here all of the sudden." They both watched as Sasuke seem to tense at the question.

"I'm a genius, obviously. Anyways, Sakura, there's something I need to talk to you about." She could feel Naruto fuming next to her without even needing to look at him.

"Are you blind, idiot?! She's obviously here with me, talking to me. Wait your own damn turn or schedule an appointment. Here, I'll tell you when she's free. NOT RIGHT NOW!" Sakura felt her face reddening with the attention Naruto had to be drawing by yelling. Honestly, he could be so immature sometimes, actually both of them could be. He was definitely giving the impression that he still harbored a protective instinct over her as well, something that grew between them from growing up together.

"Naruto-" It seemed as if she was not meant to talk that day with the way she was constantly being interrupted.

"Maybe, if you knew how to act like a civilized human being instead of the barbarian you were raised as, then you would see that I need to talk to Sakura and it's none of your business." Sakura's eyes widened as Sasuke reached for her left arm, trying to pull her away from Naruto. She gasped as pain shot through her arm coming from the place she had been scratching all day. She looked down at her extended arm to find that her bicep now held some kind of glowing tattoo on it. Her eyes widened even more and panic shot through her.

"Shit." She heard Sasuke curse, and looked to see him searching around frantically.

"Sasuke, you're hurting me and I need you to let go of my arm." She sounded a hell of a lot more calm than she felt at that moment. She watched as he seemed to grow more panicked and he looked straight at her, desperation in his eyes.

"I know about the Clavis. I know what's inside you. But right now, here in the open, it's not safe. I need to get you somewhere safe." Sakura's mouth fell open with the shock she felt at Sasuke's words. Where had she heard that word?

The woman in her dreams had said that word when she talked about the different names she had held.

"Sakura doesn't care about you psycho problems, now let go of her."

Many things happened at once; actually they all happened so fast that Sakura wasn't sure how she caught them all.

First, Naruto lunged for Sasuke. As he did, Sakura watched as Sasuke's eyes began to shift in to something she'd never seen before. At that exact moment a black flash appeared before them, rushing Sasuke, and punching him so hard in the stomach that he flew probably about 30 feet away from them.

And then there was silence. Sakura looked up to see Naruto frozen in his position of lunging towards Sasuke. She looked to her right to see a couple not too far away, frozen on the park trail they were walking on. She quickly looked back to her left and was shocked to see the circle of kids frozen in mid action of trying to catch each other.

The only thing that seemed to be unaffected were the birds that continued to fly through the air and the water that continued to fall from the fountain in front of her. As she stared at the fountain she slowly came to a stand, realizing that the man who had previously been on the bench past the fountain was gone.

"Déjà vu." She was brought out of her stupor as Sasuke's voiced reached her ears.

"Fucking bastard!" She turned to her left to see Sasuke picking himself up from the ground as a figure clad in what looked like some kind of black military uniform was walking towards him.

"That is no way to treat your elder brother, Sasuke. Especially since it has been so long since we've last seen each other." Sakura felt her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

'_Since when did Sasuke have a brother?'_

"I found it odd, the way you reacted to the disappearance of your friend. Deidara stated that you almost looked near frantic. Not only that, but you seemed overly guarded as well to what you would and would not disclose to him. But your statement to the girl just confirmed it all." Sasuke frowned at the man before him.

"You know nothing of me. Stop speaking like you can dissect my actions as if you know them to begin with." Sakura watched their conversation as a silent spectator.

"I make it my duty to know the actions and movements of all of those I suspect of being stupid enough to become a Hunter. And you've been displaying some suspicious movements in the past couple of months, Sasuke. In fact, your sudden movements almost completely coincide with when the Clavis started to send out surges of chakra. I wonder, how inept you felt once you realized that the Clavis was under your nose this entire time."

"Shut the fuck up!" Sakura almost cringed at the person she saw before her. He was filled with so much anger and hatred that she even she could feel it. The Sasuke she knew was always calm, collected, and almost on the same intelligence level as herself. Even his episode with Naruto just now was completely out of character for him.

"You don't know anything, she's mine. I know her. She trusts me. She'll never go with you." Sakura instinctively took a step back, fear started to spread throughout her limbs and she had the nagging feeling that she should probably get the hell away from whatever was going on. She froze as the man between her and Sasuke turned to look at her. The resemblance between the two of them was amazing and Sakura's eyes widened as she met his.

"You're literally making her look like she's going to shit herself. I don't think she'll be going anywhere with you, yeah." Sakura turned her gaze to the left to see a man in the same kind of military outfit as the other, only his was navy blue and black. He had long blonde hair in contrast to the long black hair of the other man.

"And personally, I don't give a shit about the family problems you two have, yeah. Let's wrap this up and go. We're already in enough trouble." Sakura felt a familiar presence enter her mind at that moment and almost sighed in relief at not being alone. At least not mentally alone.

'_Sakura, I think it would be better if we made some kind of silent escape now.'_ Sakura almost wished she could glare at her inner personality.

'_Why do I feel like you've been gone for days. What the hell is going on?' _Sakura glanced at the other men to see that they were still bickering.

'_There isn't time for that. I know you spoke to Lydia. I know you summed it up as being a dream, and in a way, it was. But at the same time, it wasn't. She's very real, but right now I don't have time to explain.'_ Sakura was taken out of her thoughts, as about 5 other people seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Unfortunately for you, I didn't come alone." Sakura watched as Sasuke's eyes changed back to the weird red she saw earlier. "And we aren't leaving without her."

"Yes, you're little hunters scare me so much, yeah." The sarcasm was clear in the blonde man's voice.

'_Whatever happens, trust me. I'm going to trigger something inside of you that's going to be weird and foreign. It's called chakra, and if you use it in the appropriate way, we might make it through this.'_ To say that Sakura was confused was an understatement. She almost considered this to be another dream, but knew she wasn't going to be let off the hook that easy.

She was sure of two things. Firstly, that she didn't know anything at all. Secondly, she didn't have time to know anything, so she was going to have to listen to her inner this time.

'_Do you feel that?'_ Sakura's eyes widened and her breath speed up as something foreign came over every limb in her body._ 'That's chakra, at certain moments I'm going to help you infuse it into your movements and if you're fighting, it will enhance whatever you do.'_

"What the hell? I don't even know how to fight!" Sakura's eyes shot up as she realized she said that out loud. Everyone's gaze was on her and the blonde man starting walking in her direction.

"I thought you said you landed the seal, Itachi." Deidara's gaze didn't leave her as he spoke, giving her a hard look. The man that was Sasuke's brother, Itachi, began to speak.

"I did, you can clearly see it." Sakura looked at him to see his eyes focused on her arm. She looked down to see the seal glowing brighter than before.

"Than why the fuck do I feel that same chakra from last night?" No one said anything and within a flash one of the guys standing with Sasuke was rushing at her, she started stepping backwards but forgot about Naruto and instead fell over his extended leg as the man launched at her.

She saw a flash of black and then another man was standing in front of her to, she saw a mess of red hair and felt her mouth drop as he turned to look at her. It was the man at the club- the one who was sitting on the bench earlier.

"Stay behind me!" She watched as he started engaging in a fight with the man who had launched at her. However, instead of the red head fighting him himself… he seemed to only be standing their and watched as the man was picked up and thrown without anyone laying a finger on him. The red headed started forward to the man's fallen form.

'_They seem to want to help me?'_ Although help her with what, Sakura still wasn't sure.

'_Trust no one, not even the ones that you think you can. Look at Sasuke. Is that the same man who you were dancing with only hours ago? No. I told you I'll explain later. Just move!'_ Sakura launched herself to the side as another man tried to attain her. She looked down at her left hand which she had used to push herself to the side in surprised, especially since it was glowing a green color. Surely she wasn't that strong to throw herself so far.

'_The Chakra will enhance you're movements.'_ Sakura nodded, not missing the hint of annoyance in her inners voice for having to repeat herself. Sakura looked up and watched as all three of the men, Itachi, the blonde, and the red head were engaged in fighting with someone. The red head had successfully knocked out the previous man that had attacked her and was starting towards a different one, which left one that was unattended.

'_Stand behind me my ass.' _Sakura rolled her eyes and couldn't help but feel a little forgotten as the red head left her to fend for herself.

The man she had just dodged was slowly bringing himself to a stand, grinning at Sakura like she was his prey.

"What a bonus, you're a looker as well. I heard the last host was a man. I can't imagine how dull that must have been." Sakura felt her eyes narrow and a new feeling angered her. Fury.

If there was one thing she could not stand, it was the objectifying of her person because of her sex.

"Oh, well, I can promise you. I'll be anything but dull. Why don't you come and have a try for yourself." The man smirked and started forward. Sakura allowed her body to relax and prayed to some kind of God that she was right in trusting her Inner.

All of the sudden she felt a surge of chakra shoot to her eyes and she almost stumbled at the feeling. She looked up to the man and noticed that his movements slowed as he started towards her. She also noticed he had a knife in his left hand.

'_You feel that? It's allowing you to better see what he will do next.'_ Sakura nodded and looked to her right to see the red head looking at her with… was that worry in his eyes. She didn't have time to tell.

'_Duck!'_ Sakura did as she was told as her mind exploded with her inner's voice and the man's knife reached out to slash at her.

'_Roll to left!'_ Again, she listened and performed, watching as the man's leg came down to slam into the ground where she had just been.

'_Good! Now use you right leg and bring it up to land a kick in his stomach! Don't forget that he just insinuated that you would be easy for him!'_ Anger filled Sakura once again and she felt her expression in her face match that feeling. She felt adrenaline fill her as her leg connected with the man before her. With the add chakra it sent him flying just past the bench where Naruto was.

She was suddenly taken back when something landed on top of her, leaving her to fall on her back.

Her green eyes met with blue ones as she stared straight into the face of the man with the long blonde hair.

"Well, fancy meeting you here." Sakura, already angry from the previous man, felt something foreign shoot through her. Adrenaline still filled her and she felt the undying need to take down the… hunter were they called? The hunter she was previously fighting. The random and extreme need to take him out blindsided her to the words she spoke next as well as the two voices that came out of her.

"Get off of me, Gaurdian." She saw the blonde's eyes widen a fraction before she pushed him off of her with the help of her chakra. Jeez, that stuff was definitely coming in handy.

Her attention was back on the man she was fighting before, who was chuckling at her suspense, still on the floor.

"Typical female. Can't get through a fight without needing a male on top of you." Sakura felt herself smile. But it was definitely not the feeling of happiness that filled her veins and made her heart beat even faster. No. This was the satisfaction she was going to feel in making this man eat his words.

Before he could say another word, she started for him. Her inner enhanced the chakra to her legs, making her move faster. She came up to pass the bench and as she did she reached for one of the wooden planks that made up the bench so she could beat the man with it

As she neared him she watched his eyes widen when he looked at the plank in her hands.

'_You should be scared, I'm going to beat the shit out of you with this like your mother should have done to you when you were little!'_ Sakura brought her left hand down in a sweep, aiming to hit the man in the face with the plank.

Many things happened at once.

First the man screamed. Second, Sakura realized she hadn't lifted a plank off of the bench, she had unknowingly some how managed to lift the whole bench and was now flinging it towards the man. And she had so much momentum behind her that there was no way to stop.

She watched in horror as the bench made contact with the entirety of the man's upper body, flinging him backwards. She immediately let go of the bench as it made contact and watched as it flew after the man, landing on him once before tumbling away.

'_oh my God.'_ Sakura heard her inner but she was too focused on the fact that there was no way she didn't kill that man by throwing a bench at him.

"This is your fault! I wanted a plank off the bench, not the whole fucking thing! I just wanted to teach him a lesson! He can't learn that if he's dead!" Sakura voiced her thoughts out loud and was taken out of her stupor by another voice.

"Jesus… that poor man." Sakura turned to stare at the blonde man who had, at some point, walked to stand a couple of feet behind her.

"I-..I didn't mean…. I'm so sorry!" She was about to have a panic attack. Not only had she never fought anyone before, she certainly never did it with enhanced abilities. However, her inner seemed to know exactly what to do, which Sakura would later question.

"I'm just kidding, that was actually pretty funny, yeah!" Sakura looked back up at the blonde man's face, shocked at his reaction.

However, before she could say anything, she felt a pressure at the back of her head and could only watch as everything went black.

* * *

"I don't think I need to tell you that that was completely over the top and Tsunade's going to be pissed." Gaara watched as Kakashi easily caught the girl he just knocked out.

Yeah, Tsunade was going to be pissed, but he did have to admit that the sight of shock on the girl and the hunter's face was priceless when she threw a bench at him.

"I think she'll be more interested in the fact that the girl has some how managed to reach into the Clavis' chakra in spite of the seal." Itachi came to stand beside Gaara. His brother and one other hunter had fled the scene about 30 seconds before the girl's little assault.

"I think that seal is starting to grow weaker anyway, yeah. When I fell on top of her she called me guardian and her eyes flickered. The Clavis might also be influencing her reactions as well. She held more hostility for the Hunter than what could be considered normal. We need to get her back to the base where we can safely discuss what just occurred and move from there." Itachi nodded at Deidara's words, as did Kakashi.

"She was talking to herself." Gaara looked up at Kakashi who was giving him a questioning look.

"When she was fighting earlier, and I think just before she realized Deidara was next to her, she was talking to someone else." Gaara looked down at the girl in Kakashi's arms. The seal on her arm was glowing; it would always glow if Itachi were around.

"Do you think she was talking to the Clavis, yeah?" Gaara shook his head.

"No. She was talking as if it were just another person. If she even knows who the Clavis is, I doubt she would speak so… brashly. We should move." They all nodded and began to make their trek back to their base.

Gaara wondered if Tsunade's anger would be subsided with the capture of the Clavis.

Probably not.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I apologize for how long this took. I work full time and I'm going to school full time. I also write a lot for school so by the time I get free time to write I'm usually burned out. I was also stuck on how to move forward with the opening of this chapter. Hopefully it is to everyone's liking.


End file.
